Interview with middle grade author Ben Gartner

Today’s special guest is middle-grade author Ben Gartner and we’re chatting about the new book in his The Eye of Ra series, People of the Sun.

During his virtual book tour, Ben will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Ben Gartner is the award-winning author of The Eye of Ra time travel adventure series for middle graders. His books take readers for a thrilling ride, maybe even teaching them something in the meantime. Ben can be found living and writing near the mountains with his wife and two boys.

Tell us about your latest release.
People of the Sun is book 3 in The Eye of Ra series. I’ve heard from reviewers that it can stand alone, and I did that intentionally, but I do feel there’s valuable context you can accrue if you start with book 1. In People of the Sun, John and Sarah discover the answer to the all-important question: “Why are we traveling in time?!” There’s some mind-bending aspects of science and time travel touched on in this book, but at the core of the adventure is a trip to the time of the people living in central Mexico in the early 1500’s—the people commonly referred to as the Aztec. Exploring this ancient culture was a ton of fun, and I hope my readers think so too.

Excerpt from People of the Sun:
This was too weird, so it had to be happening for real. If it made no sense at all, then it had to be real. That was what John had come to expect of their life ever since he and Sarah entered that cave in Colorado and traveled back in time to the ancient Egyptian town of Saqqara. Then, later, traveled through time again, from the museum in Washington, DC, to the ancient Roman frontier town of Aventicum.

Abnormal was their new normal, and seeing these two people—if that’s all they really were, and not gods—speaking of Aten and telling them they were needed again . . . John shrugged. It had to be true.

Something in his bones told him: It has to be true.

He thought all this out before the earth trembled again, and he matched the stare of the older man. John’s hand reached to the pendant he always wore around his neck. The eye of Ra.

The tremor stopped and immediately John asked, “How d’we go back?”

The old woman grinned. “Always so precocious.”

The old man laughed. “Agreed. Some things never change.” He winked at the woman.

“If you are who you I think you are, then prove it.” Sarah crossed her arms and pivoted back to confront these strangers head-on.

“What exactly is going on here?” Aunt Lorraine asked. “Do you know each other?”

“That necklace isn’t what you think,” the old man said, looking at John fidgeting with his pendant.

John felt the warmth of the pendant on his chest. He could trace it in his sleep, and in fact had done just that many times in his dreams—over the brow, around the almond-shaped eye, down the arc with the curlicue finish, then the final straight line with the knifelike edge. The eye that could transport them through space and time.

What part of the writing process do you dread?
“Dread” might be a bit too heavy of a word, but I don’t really love the administration side of marketing. I love talking craft, and talking books, but the maintenance type aspects of marketing are time I’d rather spend writing.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
No, not really. My biggest problem is lack of time. It’s no coincidence that in my book 3 the scientists reveal a way to slow time…

Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?
Interesting question. Do you? Sure, of course I’ve wondered what it might be like to be someone else, but I’m happy with who I am. Or, to be more accurate: I’m happy with who I am constantly becoming. Learning and self-growth are never-ending. I’m certainly not perfect, but I’m a very fortunate human.

What did you do on your last birthday?
Hiked! With my family. That’s my favorite thing to do. Well, and eat cake. Of which, there was plenty.

Thank you for having me on your blog! If people would like to learn more about me or my books, the best place to find me is my website. I’m also active on Twitter. A bit less on Instagram. And I’m really bad at Facebook.

My books are available wherever books are sold! Again, thanks for having me.

Thanks for being here today!

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